Latest News
- Legendary Mask Maker, Zagone Studios, Approaches Fifty-Years Of Innovation Right Here In Chicago
- Need Help Picking Out That Perfect Record Player For Your Latest Album Purchases? We’ve Got You Covered. Top 10 Best Vinyl Record Players In 2025.
- Photo Gallery: Nitzer Ebb live in Chicago at The Riviera Theatre
- Underworld At Radius: A Techno Baptism In Chicago
- Two Guitar Greats Team Up For U.S. Tour, John 5 and Richie Kotzen Hitting The Road Together In October
- Riot Fest’s 20th Anniversary Is Shaping Up As They Release The Daily Lineups For 2025
Southwestern Suburban Music Festival, Sacred Rose, Hits Highs, Lows & Ebb And Flows
By James Currie
This past weekend, Chicagoland saw the first incarnation of a brand new music festival. Sacred Rose was billed as a new, folk rock infused, jam band fest with its center points being Phil Lesh and Friends (PhilCo), The War on Drugs, Black Puma’s, Khruangbin, Umphrey’s McGee, Goose and more. It was set outside SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, IL (about 15 miles outside of downtown Chicago) in the parking lot.
Opening night, Friday, was the nicest weather of the weekend. Cool air, no rain and plenty of festival fans filling in the place. The “newness” was still fresh in the air. The layout was set up along the north side of the stadiums parking lot and side field. There were 3 main stages set up, two side by side on the north east end and one along the west side. There was also a massive indoor stage set up for DJ’s and laser light shows on the north west end.
Scattered throughout the festival was large art sculptures and architectural structures where at night were lit up with bright colored LED’s and one center structure even literally lit up with fire. Plenty of ‘gramable’ spots to be seen.
Vendors were lined up along the entrance and ran down the west side of the stadium wall into the back. You could find everything from hippy dresses to hemp hats and pipes and bongs from around the world. The food vendors were varied with everything from ice cream treats to grilled cheese and pizza tents. Some in food trucks, others under the stars. Prices for food and drink were as high as many of the guests, but pretty typical for a music festival. You don’t come for quality of food, but the sticker tag might wake you up a bit.
Speaking of which, seems that several vendors took advantage of the fest goers laid back attitudes and over charged, changed the tip and added fees that were not approved by the individuals. News reports that came out after the festival are showing some shady activity on fans accounts that are being disputed as I write this.
The main draw for many fans was Friday nights line up. Between the Phil Lesh and Wilco collaboration and The Black Puma’s, those where the main acts on many fans minds. Unfortunately, a last minute announcement came via Sacred Rose app stating that The Black Puma’s cancelled leaving many disappointing fans. Especially to those who already paid to park (starting at $25 + fees) and went in.
PhilCo went on without a hitch. The played under the canopy stage and covered songs from each others respective bands (Grateful Dead & Wilco) as well as covers. The sound quality at this stage was good. Clear, crisp, punchy but over flow from the stage to the east kind of was too much at times. For some reason, the stages physical line up was not done right. They faced each other and were too close. The bass from the eastern stages was set way to high. You could feel your cloths move from the punches coming out of those cabinets. No need to have that within such a small footprint of the grounds.
The sound bleed was a concern from the fans as they posted their opinions and frustrations on the festivals social media pages the next day. Most complaints were about the sound bleed between stages. The festival took notice and responded and made some changes the follow days where the sound was much better.
Seems festival goers are getting pretty use to being able to voice their concerns these days. In real time. They pay a lot to be at these and want to make sure they get what they pay for. Especially those who paid for upgrades and VIP access. Those complaints came in the form of not enough bathrooms. Other mass complaints came from not enough water stations, or water stations running out of water. Again, the festival organizers took notice and reacted swift with adding more toilets and water station.
The weather took some turns as the weekend progressed. Saturday warmed up pretty toasty and by Sunday the oppressive heat was met by dark skies and lightning closures. Throughout the late afternoon, the festival closed things down and asked fans to take shelter before finally calling it a night early due to rampant storm concerns.
Throughout the weekend the festival seems to run pretty smooth, once it over came first year hiccups. The bands audio was loud and clear by the end. The line ups seemed to stay and no more cancellations happened. There was enough water and toilets for all who needed them. It’s a first run of a brand new festival. There are always going to be problems no matter who is putting on the event. They worked in a very proactive manner that truly seemed to want to make things better for the fans. I’m sure by next year they’ll have things down better from the get go. If they do come back and to this location, I hope they utilize the actual stadium making that the main stage and circle the backlot for the rest. Other festivals have done the same and it worked out pretty well for them. It was smart to listen to the fans feedback in real time. I hope they take that to heart as well.
For more on the festival, click here
Related Articles
More in this category
